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UD hosts Lilly-East conference on teaching

Steve Sugar, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, lends his expertise on games that teach.

3:09 p.m., May 2, 2008--For the third year, the University of Delaware hosted the Lilly-East
Conference on College and University Teaching, “Learning by Design,” April 17-18, at Clayton Hall. The conference was attended by 260 university professors and graduate students, representing 58 institutions., with 53 participants from UD. The conference was cosponsored by the University of Maryland, College Park, the University of Delaware Library and UD's Institute for Transforming Undergraduate Education.

The conference highlighted instructional design, aligning objectives, assessment and instruction to support student Learning by Design. Participants discussed instructional topics ranging from course design, critical thinking, problem-based learning (PBL), and student engagement to instructional technologies and assessment of student learning. The conference also offered participants a forum for networking and the exchange of instructional practice across disciplines and
institutions.

Presenters representing 40 institutions shared their scholarly teaching via 63 concurrent sessions and 21 poster presentations. The sessions reflected a high level of quality; colleagues from 20 institutions peer-reviewed over 100 proposals. A number of sessions presented both undergraduate students' and faculty's perspectives on the learning process. Two sessions featuring instructional technologies were held at the Student Multimedia Design Center at the University of Delaware Library.

According to one participant, “The conference provides topics that are extremely relevant to improving the quality of higher education-- that is, to make learning more relevant and better prepare our students for entering the work force.”

The conference was preceded by a special academic career development event, sponsored by the UD Office of the Provost and the University of Maryland, for graduate students, focused on their future roles as educators of undergraduate students. One graduate student said, “Participating in the academic career sessions, affirmed for me that I wanted to be a faculty member and had made the right career choice. Sometimes you get doubts, particularly when you're in a research-intensive field.”

“Conference attendance has continued to grow and this growth reflects institutions' focus on quality student learning and teaching, and support of faculty,” according to Gabriele Bauer, assistant director, Center for Teaching Effectiveness (CTE), and conference organizer. “Participants were engaged in high quality sessions and motivated by the higher education leadership of nationally recognized experts such as Virginia Anderson, Milton Cox, Dee Fink, Jerry Gaff, Laurie Richlin, and Todd Zakrajsek. It's a unique opportunity to talk teaching with these colleagues and share your scholarly teaching,” Bauer said.

Based on feedback, the conference met the participants' needs and in many instances exceeded their expectations. One attendee stated, “I have now concrete ideas for motivating my faculty colleagues to systematically assess student learning on our courses.” Another participant said, “I'll consider video documentary projects for my summer study abroad students to Rome, and I'll pursue it with my study abroad colleagues.”

Conference planning and execution is a team effort that benefits from the collective expertise and support of the Office of the Provost, the Office of Undergraduate Studies, the Division of Professional and Continuing Studies, Conference Services and the Center for Teaching Effectiveness. Bauer said. .

The 2009 Lilly-East Conference on College and University Teaching will be held April 15-17, at UD in Clayton Hall.

The following University of Delaware faculty, staff and graduate students participated:

David Wilson, political science and international studies, and undergraduate students: Teaching Students Research Methods Using “Clickers” Outside the Classroom;

James Wingrave, Brad Bauer, Kristin Nuzzio, and Bridget Brennan, chemistry and biochemistry: Extending the PLTL Model to a Class of 1000 (poster); and Angela Wolfe, psychology: Collaborative Learning: How to Make It Work.